h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You see, there are fewer and fewer fields where the concept of skilled labour is respected. It's the same with translation: most clients prefer a cheap, botched job to a good job. You see the results every time you open the manual for a new appliance.

It's part of the process that's been going on since the industrial revolution. Churn it out fast, turn it out cheap, and if it's crap so much the better - it will break and you can sell 'em a new one because there's no better alternative any more.

Likewise, don't employ a skilled worker; employ someone for £6 p/h and they can run it through Google Translate or use the options in Word to make a dog's dinner of it.

If anyone wins, it's certainly not the workers, and definitely not the customers.

Amen to all that.

Agreed.

I tried quite hard to get the first chapter of the book I'm writing nicely sorted out before getting the wife to give it a look over, I thought I'd make the effort so that she'd have an easier job of proofing and editing it for me. She handed it back absolutely covered in red pen

I made the amends she suggested and it really was a better read. Decent editorial staff (proofreaders, editors, translators, etc) are worth their wait in gold.

>>are worth their wait in gold<<

Are you implying we procrastinate?



...Oh, umm, yeah, I'm working. Just, err, took a break.

Oops, forgot my

And then there's the scourge that is predictive sex

(sorry, that was a post-40 classic)

Very very well put, Pastey

I could add that half of the errors people find in our newspaper aren't errors at all - but they miss half of those we actually make

I may be exaggerating - a bit - but they say exaggerating raises the understanding

re 41

Back in the olden days a radio or tv would be covered with small labels telling you the quality had been checked by ms chop suee and mr toot sweet and so on - I never see these labels any more. These days it is up to me to check the quality and - if need be - ship the thing back to Korea (well, only my local radio pusher, but still)



ps: Korea is just an example - as my niece and nephew would politely point out if they ever saw this